THE BUZZ

Our World Called Hip Hop

Many moons ago I came up with the idea of traveling to Zimbabwe to create a documentary of the effects of Hip Hop within our world.I’ve seen that Hip Hop has become a media by which it’s artists battle each other on stages, as soldiers do on a battle ground. I believe that by introducing the intense perspective of how Hip Hop influences its followers in Zimbabwe and other countries around the world, people can learn that Hip Hop does not have to be a catalyst to oppression, but a remedy against it by uplifting the minds of those who have a natural love for it.

Youth culture all over the world has become consumed and utterly blinded by the mass media and consumerism that plagues every industry, every television screen and radio station. One of the things that has become dispersed is the Hip Hop culture.

In Zimbabwe, Africa and across the world, young teenagers and adults are glossed up by the glamorization of the thug life, the abundance of money, cash, attractive women and men. As expressed by Wallace Chuma of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, Hip Hop along with these images conveys a message of rebellion against the norm, apathy toward the troubles and hardships of a government whose politics they conlusively have no control over, and who in return, has no concern for them. It might have started in the great urban cities of New York and Chicago, especially amongst the Black and Hispanic minorities who through the medium of the music initiated their own sort of protective community against the hypocrisy and violence of the dominant white anglo-saxon. Strangely enough however, Hip Hop has created within itself its own violence and its own hypocrisy. Young people follow these artists like sheep in a herd, however, where are they all headed towards? Although many astounding and enlightening artists have emerged, blood had been shed and young lives have been lost for the cause of an image of pride.

I don’t think that the issue here is “do young people in these 3rd world countries know what Hip Hop is?” Obviously these young people have a preconceived notion of what our lives are like here, because, like the rest of the world , they look to the US as the house on the top of the hill. However, do the youth in America recognize the influence that the Hip Hop image and culture has on the rest of the world? Youth in the United States are constantly rebelling against what is established, but instead of trying to change it, they reflect apathy onto what enrages them.

About the Author

Chanel Auguste

Chanel Auguste attended the “FAME” school Laguardia High School of Performing Arts and went on to receive a degree in PR at Clark Atlanta University.Chanel is currently the Executive Assistant to the President of Thrifts for Housing Works.

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